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Record of Proceedings

Public Works Committee Workshop on MPDU Policies - September 22, 2026

City Council Committee Meetings — Tuesday, September 22, 2026

BodyFrederick, Maryland

SessionCity Council Committee Meetings

DateTuesday, September 22, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 54:13

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

4:46

Welcome to the public works meeting of September the twenty second.

4:50

We'll begin with uh the Pledge of Allegiance.

5:12

All right.

5:13

Well, thank you, Ms.

5:14

Ostrich, for joining us.

5:16

And if you could help us learn about MPDUs, that would be great.

5:22

I will do my best.

5:25

Thank you for the opportunity.

5:31

So you'll notice if you've looked at the slide deck already that most of everything I have here is from our task force, what we've recommended from our task force.

5:40

And we can talk and fill those out a little bit more as we go along.

5:45

So for Section 19-3A, this was a recommendation of the task force that we reduce the number of units at which the MPDU would be triggered from 25 to 10.

6:05

So I don't know if you want to have any conversation here or is it okay if we chat as we walk through your Sure.

6:14

So the one is I was at a presentation this morning and the counties is at 25.

6:20

Which is fine.

6:35

You know, I'm gonna defer a little bit to legal on answering that question.

6:40

Because although I'm just thinking about the pilot agreement and what we've done.

6:45

And their recommendation is that it would always be a combined agreement if the county was also providing the pilot.

6:52

Okay.

6:53

So I don't know if they'd have any reason to say we should align with the county in any way.

6:59

Um but obviously the recommendation of the task force.

7:02

That would only be with pilot agreements.

7:04

Um pardon?

7:04

No, it would only be with pilot agreements.

7:07

Housing one?

7:08

No, that would only be with pilot agreements.

7:10

No, you're correct.

7:11

You're correct.

7:12

So to that, yeah.

7:13

But I don't know, I don't know if they would have any reason at all that we should align with them.

7:17

Oh, you're talking about overall.

7:19

Well, I mean on the number of units where we're gonna be able to do that.

7:21

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

7:25

Are separate.

7:26

Yeah.

7:27

That may be because we both getting receiving funding.

7:31

So then potentially this is a very common number across the country.

7:35

This is best practices across a lot of the country.

7:38

So that is why it's the recommendation of the task force.

7:44

Okay.

7:45

And then just so I understand, so that means we could potentially end up with uh pilot agreements where we would have to agree with the county and non-pilot agreements where we could do whatever we wanted.

7:57

I am very sorry that I confused the issue.

8:00

Maybe could we just drop pilot agreement and just stay with MPDUs?

8:04

Yes.

8:05

Yes, I'm very sorry that I couldn't do that.

8:07

No, I think his question was if we did this, if we move this direction, just to what the pilot agreements will have to stay the same.

8:13

That's that's all we're saying.

8:14

Oh, I see.

8:14

Yeah, that's all we're saying.

8:15

Not necessarily just across the board, but if we move in this direction with the 10, we have a pilot agreements that we have with the with the county, that would remain the same as when I try to just ask it.

8:28

This would not I this would not affect a pilot agreement.

8:31

Um what this would affect would be an MPDU agreement.

8:35

Yes.

8:35

So that would affect the planning department, and that we could assume that more MPDU agreements would come before council.

8:43

All right, thank you, Councilmember.

8:45

Thank you.

8:48

Okay.

8:50

Thank you.

8:51

So in 196, this is all about the fees.

8:56

And as we all know, the fee structure was changed in 2023.

9:01

And there's a mechanism within the ordinance today to consider what a calculation might be and what the right fee is, and it's based on a Frederick County fee and median home prices, and there's a lot of little pieces in there.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Affordable Housing█████████████████████████████████████████████58%

Moderately Priced Dwelling Units███████████████████24%

Fee Structure███4%

Public Engagement███4%

Procedural██2%

Zoning And Land Use██2%

Taxation██2%

Transportation Infrastructure██2%

Public Health██2%

Summary of Proceedings

Public Works Committee Workshop: MPDU Fee-In-Lieu Options and Housing Fund Priorities - September 22, 2026

This workshop focused on the Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) program, including the fee-in-lieu option, housing fund priorities, incentives, and fee amounts. Staff presented recommendations from the MPDU Task Force, and council members discussed potential changes to increase affordable housing production.

Discussion Items

MPDU Trigger Threshold: Proposed reducing the minimum number of units triggering MPDU requirements from 25 to 10, in line with national best practices. Council considered implications for pilot agreements and alignment with county rules.
Fee Structure and Review Frequency: The current fee (based on square footage) remains lower than the county’s to encourage development. No fee increase was recommended until projects are built under the new structure. The three-year review frequency was discussed but no change advised at this time.
Administrative Approval for 100% Affordable Projects: Discussed whether MPDU agreements for entirely affordable projects could be handled administratively rather than requiring council approval, to speed up the process while maintaining accountability.
Clarifying Definitions: Need to clarify what constitutes a “city project” (e.g., financial contribution, land, fee waivers) and the role of nonprofit partners in exemptions from MPDU agreements.
Incentives for MPDU Construction: Explored density bonuses tied to APFO relief, fee reductions/waivers (parkland, schools, roads), expedited permitting, reduced parking minimums, and enhanced PILOT agreements for deeper affordability (30-50% AMI).
City Housing Fund (Section 19-18): Recommended extracting the housing fund into a separate ordinance to allow general fund allocations and other revenue sources. Uses discussed include program administration, housing navigator, gap financing, revolving loan fund, homebuyer assistance, home repair, rental assistance, and emergency needs.

Public Comments & Testimony

Jim Smersal (Downtown Frederick resident): Proposed considering lower onsite percentages (e.g., 5%) versus higher fee percentages (e.g., 8%) to incentivize building. Suggested accepting developed lots from nonprofits as MPDU credit and adding land purchase to allowed fund uses. Noted density bonuses may be ineffective under APFO caps.
Ann Ryan (Frederick Housing Solutions Task Force): Supported the broader thinking but asked what happens if developers do not choose to build affordable units despite incentives. Urged exploring other uses of the housing fund to create deeper subsidies for very low-income renters.
Darby Swanson (Habitat for Humanity of Frederick County): Commended the council for moving the policy forward. Emphasized the importance of homebuyer assistance and home repair programs for existing homeowners, especially seniors below 50% AMI, and thanked the council for past support.

Key Outcomes

No formal votes were taken; the workshop served as a policy discussion to guide future ordinance amendments.
Council members agreed to pursue incremental changes, starting with low-hanging fruit in the MPDU ordinance.
Staff will work with planning, legal, and DPW departments to refine definitions, evaluate incentives, and develop the new housing fund ordinance.
Next steps include bringing draft legislation before the committee for further consideration.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome to the public works meeting of September the twenty second. We'll begin with uh the Pledge of Allegiance. All right. Well, thank you, Ms. Ostrich, for joining us. And if you could help us learn about MPDUs, that would be great. I will do my best. Thank you for the opportunity. So you'll notice if you've looked at the slide deck already that most of everything I have here is from our task force, what we've recommended from our task force. And we can talk and fill those out a little bit more as we go along. So for Section 19-3A, this was a recommendation of the task force that we reduce the number of units at which the MPDU would be triggered from 25 to 10. So I don't know if you want to have any conversation here or is it okay if we chat as we walk through your Sure. So the one is I was at a presentation this morning and the counties is at 25. Which is fine. You know, I'm gonna defer a little bit to legal on answering that question. Because although I'm just thinking about the pilot agreement and what we've done. And their recommendation is that it would always be a combined agreement if the county was also providing the pilot. Okay. So I don't know if they'd have any reason to say we should align with the county in any way. Um but obviously the recommendation of the task force. That would only be with pilot agreements. Um pardon? No, it would only be with pilot agreements. Housing one? No, that would only be with pilot agreements. No, you're correct. You're correct. So to that, yeah. But I don't know, I don't know if they would have any reason at all that we should align with them. Oh, you're talking about overall. Well, I mean on the number of units where we're gonna be able to do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Are separate. Yeah. That may be because we both getting receiving funding. So then potentially this is a very common number across the country. This is best practices across a lot of the country. So that is why it's the recommendation of the task force. Okay. And then just so I understand, so that means we could potentially end up with uh pilot agreements where we would have to agree with the county and non-pilot agreements where we could do whatever we wanted. I am very sorry that I confused the issue. Maybe could we just drop pilot agreement and just stay with MPDUs? Yes. Yes, I'm very sorry that I couldn't do that. No, I think his question was if we did this, if we move this direction, just to what the pilot agreements will have to stay the same. That's that's all we're saying. Oh, I see. Yeah, that's all we're saying. Not necessarily just across the board, but if we move in this direction with the 10, we have a pilot agreements that we have with the with the county, that would remain the same as when I try to just ask it. This would not I this would not affect a pilot agreement.

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